The Old Cool (30 images)

The late fifties gave us the Birth of the Cool – Miles Davis back east and the West Coast Sound out here – and in the new Playboy Magazine, once you got past the pictures, there was always detailed advice on how to be cool. And the architecture became cool – out here, low post-and-beam glass-walled elegant houses cantilevered out over the Hollywood Hills. The style became known as Midcentury Modern, but it wasn't just those houses in the hills. Commercial buildings became...more »

The late fifties gave us the Birth of the Cool – Miles Davis back east and the West Coast Sound out here – and in the new Playboy Magazine, once you got past the pictures, there was always detailed advice on how to be cool. And the architecture became cool – out here, low post-and-beam glass-walled elegant houses cantilevered out over the Hollywood Hills. The style became known as Midcentury Modern, but it wasn't just those houses in the hills. Commercial buildings became midcentury cool, and three of those are here, side by side on Sunset Boulevard – the International Cinematographers Guild, the Motion Picture Editors Guild, and Harmony Gold. They're pure fifties cool. ~ Thursday, September 29, 2016« less